Bars, bands rely on social media

Scott Tady @scotttady

Thursday

Mar 1, 2018 at 4:00 AM

Back when a loaf of bread cost 70 cents and movies were $3.25, bars found it easy to publicize their weekend entertainment.

The owners would list upcoming shows on their bar's marquee and advertise in the local newspaper. Ambitious bands playing big-city clubs would do their part, printing up fliers they'd tape to telephone polls, stick in windshields or hand out on the sidewalk.

But as entertainment grew inward — with video games, premium cable channels and especially the internet keeping people at home — bands and bars found themselves facing more competition for people's leisure time. Additional marketing strategies became necessary.

Today, any bar hoping to make a profit when offering entertainment must rely on social media and other digital platforms to spread word by reaching people where they're most easily found.

"In addition to our website that uses domain names www.sheffieldlanes.com and www.thefalloutshelter.net, I utilize Yelp, Tripadvisor, Bing, Google, Foursquare, Twitter, email lists and Facebook," said Rick D'Agostino of Aliquippa's Sheffield Lanes bowling alley and Fallout Shelter music club. "I heavily market on Facebook, and since we have essentially four or five businesses under one roof here — Sheffield Lanes and Sheffield Lounge, Ricky Dee's Pizza, Fallout Shelter and the Beaver County Cigar Club — each with a page on every site, it becomes quite a task, so it is important to stay diligent and organized."

It's a similar story for the 3-year-old Bridgetown Taphouse in Ambridge, which offers bands, craft beer tastings and other special events to boost its restaurant revenue.

"When it comes down to it, we can't compete with the big corporate concepts and the multi-unit restaurants with traditional advertising," Bridgetown Taphouse owner Matthew Salopek said. "We rely on our 3,300-plus Facebook and Instagram followers and our loyal customers to spread the word. Outside of some youth sports sponsorships, community event participation and public accolades, including four (The Times') Best of the Valley awards in 2017 and nominated in six categories for the City Paper's Best of Pittsburgh 2017, and winning some local chicken wing competitions, we really haven't put much effort into traditional paid advertising. In fact, social media, namely Facebook, has almost completely replaced our website. Our website is now just a splash page with some general information pointing interested people to our social media accounts. Besides wearing Bridgetown Taphouse shirts everywhere we go, social media is how we promote and grow our business."

Besides social media exposure, reviews and ratings on sites such as Yelp, Google and Facebook also help drive business.

"We had a family from Cleveland on their way to London via the Pittsburgh airport find us because they wanted a local place with a great burger and craft beer near the airport — all because of Yelp," Salopek said. "They had never been to, let alone heard of, Ambridge before their visit."

Nicholas Klutka, owner of Roots Rochester, said digital marketing is his essential go-to for publicizing events at his bar like this month's Super Bowl party.

"Social media is everything for small business," Klutka said. "We rely on that and word of mouth."

Though monitoring and updating a plethora of digital sites is time consuming.

"You only have so much time to do this stuff, so I try to spend it where it seems to get the best results," said D'Agostino, who's recently added Twitter to the Fallout Shelter and Sheffield Lanes' digital platforms.

Email blasts can make an impact, too.

"I have been gathering email (addresses) for the Fallout Shelter's Awesome Monthly Blues/Rock Jam Night and send them emails one week before our jam and also on the day before," D'Agostino said. "I do the same thing with our Cigar Club's monthly smoker and its email list. And I send a weekly email to a Sheffield Lanes email list that informs the recipients of what is going on here at the Lanes, Lounge, Fallout Shelter, etc. I try to overlap and cross-promote wherever it makes sense."

Bars expect the bands they hire to promote their show on the web, as well.

"I can tell you that no matter how hard the venue promotes, especially when we are talking about bands that do original music, very few people will go out and spend money to see a band they never heard of," D'Agostino said. "Bands that promote themselves to their circle of friends and fans can pack a place and do very well. Not only can they collect more at the door, it is always way more exciting to play to a crowded room. Some of the bands do a very good job of promoting themselves, and those are always good shows. When a band expects the venue to do the promoting and won't promote themselves, they can usually expect a poor turnout."

It's just good business sense.

"Most band members are very tech savvy and know more about connecting with people online than many business owners, especially older 'impresarios' like myself," D'Agostino said. "They also have a base of fans and friends that connect with them on Instagram or Snapchat, or whatever the app du jour is, so all of those are potentially effective methods that can be used to promote a show that they are playing."

Social media presence lets bars promote live music events directly to those who are interested.

"It's not uncommon for a popular post of ours to reach 10,000-plus people through shares and other online interactions," Salopek said. "When we book a band or artist, there are only two things we ask for: a show flier or poster and that they do their best to promote the show to their followers on social media."

New Brighton country singer Dawn Savage says a mix of online marketing and more traditional media advertising are vital for artists like her performing original music live.

"It is very important for both the bar owner and the artists to promote their events on social media and other outlets such as the paper and radio," Savage said. "I have found that bars that help the artist promote end up doing much better when entertainment is booked. That is including artists that I follow locally, as well."

Times have changed, said Monaca native Nick Zeigler of the California-based garage-rock band the Forty Nineteens.

"In L.A. during the mid-'80s, my previous band, the Leonards, had a showcase at the Whiskey a Go Go. Being the Sunset Strip, we promoted like the metal guys do. We made 2-by-1-foot fliers and got some spray glue ... anywhere that had space was 'promotionalized.' Monaca friends visiting months later, even a year later, told me they saw our fliers. I'd say it was better than putting them on windshields. That form of promotion has since been banned."

Instead of paper fliers, his current band the Forty Nineteens, which in recent years has played such Beaver Valley venues as Wooley Bully's in New Brighton, relies on digital promotion to cultivate new fans and radio airplay nationwide.

"Bands can now reach the world. Though you have to not only reach out, but make what you are doing stand out," Zeigler said. "Current times offer less face-to-face contact, so one has to create a way to personalize the connection. We offer free downloads, or various giveaway promotions whenever possible. But nothing beats chatting with people about music, be it yours or music in general.

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